Mass. Gen. Laws » Part I Title XII Chapter 71B
Massachusetts General Laws

Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 71B, § 4 (2026)

Agreements between school committees or with public or private schools

✓ current as of July 2026
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Section 4. The school committee of any city, town or school district may, to meet its obligations under section three, with the approval of the department enter into an agreement with any other school committee to jointly provide special education or, subject to the consent of the parent or guardian affected thereby and subject to constitutional limitations, may enter into an agreement with any public or private school, agency, or institution to provide the necessary special education within the city, town or school district; provided, however, that every school committee, where feasible, shall be associated with an educational collaborative providing services to children with a disability which disability occurs in a low incidence in the population of children requiring special education.

In the case of an agreement between school committees to jointly provide special education, said agreement shall designate one city, town or school district as the operating agent. Funds received by such operating agent from other cities, towns or school districts or appropriated by such operating agent for the purposes of such agreement, in addition to gifts and grants shall be deposited with and held as a separate account by its treasurer. The school committee may apply said funds to the costs of programs operated pursuant to the agreement without further appropriation.

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 5 cases (1 in the last 5 years), 1978–2026 · leading case: Amherst-Pelham Reg'l Sch. Comm. v. Dep't of Educ., 381 N.E.2d 922 (Mass. 1978).
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Amherst-Pelham Reg'l Sch. Comm. v. Dep't of Educ., 381 N.E.2d 922 (Mass. 1978). · cites it 2× “15, § 1M; G. L. c. 71B, § 4. Instead, the reported questions raise a more narrow question concerning the procedure to be followed under c.”
Commonwealth v. Sch. Comm. of Springfield, 417 N.E.2d 408 (Mass. 1981). · cites it 3× “G. L. c. 71B, §§ 4, 10. Indeed, “the framers of c.”
Bloom v. Sch. Comm. of Springfield, 379 N.E.2d 578 (Mass. 1978). “23 Other statutory contacts between the public and private education sectors: A school committee may contract with private schools to provide for children with special educational needs (G. L. c. 71B, §§ 4, 10, 13). See also the general provision that a school committee shall…”
Matthew J. v. Massachusetts Dep't of Educ., 989 F. Supp. 380 (D. Mass. 1998). “” Granville may have assumed that because Master’s was a parochial school it could not get the Department’s approval to enter into an agreement pursuant to Mass.Gen.Laws ch. 71B, § 4. There is no evidence indicating that the school committee ever made a request for approval of…”
Hellman v. Mass Dep't of Elementary & Secondary Educ. (1st Cir. 2026). · cites it 2× “M.G.L. c. 71B, § 4; see also id. § 10. When enrolled in private school under these circumstances, the child is considered a "publicly funded student[]" under the IDEA, 603 Mass.”
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